Always Here for You
by JessicaL27
Summary: Olivia almost loses her sobriety, but Asher is there to help.


Olivia stared at the beer that was on the kitchen table. Jordan just left it sitting there not caring if their mom saw it. But then again, her mom hadn't been home very much, either. And of course, her dad was gone.

She had screwed up with Spencer by telling Layla about Crenshaw. He was mad that she slipped, and she didn't blame him. And Layla... something was different about her. Olivia was pretty much alone.

She looked at the beer again, and then she walked over and grabbed one. It was just a beer, right? And obviously no one cared if she had one.

She opened the can and she could smell it. "Cheers" she said to herself. She brought it up to her lips, but before she could take a sip she heard the door open. "Liv?" She heard Asher yell.

She thought if she didn't answer maybe he would leave. Everyone else had.

"Hey," he said, walking into the kitchen. "You were kinda quiet at school today. I wanted to see if..." he trailed off as he saw the beer on the table.

"Liv," he said, calmly, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

He didn't buy it. Then he saw the opened beer that she was trying to hide. He reached over and grabbed it and then poured it down the sink. "Did you drink any of it?"

She could tell he wasn't accusing her of anything. He genuinely cared about her. It was the first time in a while she felt like anyone cared.

"No," she said shaking her head. "But I would have if if you hadn't come in."

He was going to kill Jordan for leaving his beer all over the house. But that would have to wait as Olivia needed him now. He could see that she was upset so he grabbed her hand and led her over to the couch. They sat down beside each other and he asked her what was going on.

She explained how alone she felt and how everyone was gone. This absolutely broke his heart. He had been busy with football he hadn't checked on her. She did a good job of putting on a brave face, but he should have known she was struggling.

"Asher?" She whispered as tears started to fall down her face, "What if you hadn't stopped me? What if I had that beer?"

He grabbed her hand again, his heart breaking. "Then we would have handled it."

"We?"

"Yeah. Liv, I'm always going to be here for you. No matter what. Come here" he said, pulling her into a hug. She was still crying and was shaking. "Shhh. It's gonna be okay" he said as he held her.

How did he miss this? She was the one person who had been there for him through everything. He had to be there for her now .

She pulled away from their hug and then wiped tears away from her face. "I'm sorry I'm such a mess."

"Don't be sorry," he said, his hand reaching up to wipe away another tear. He hand lingered on her cheek and then her eyes met his. He leaned in and kissed her. To his surprise, she kissed him back. They continued to kiss and then she moved so she was laying down and he laid gently on top of her. But after a few minutes he pulled away. "We need to stop."

"Okay," she said, but she seemed a little hurt.

"No, it's just that if we keep going I'm not going to be able to stop. And I want to do things right this time. With us."

She smiled. "I want that, too."

"Are you sure? You want to be together?"

"Yeah. I want to be your girlfriend. If that's ok?"

This time it was his turn to smile. "That's exactly what I want." But then his smile faded as he needed to ask her something very serious. "So, as your boyfriend, I need to ask, do you need me to take you to a meeting?"

"No, not right now. Now I think I just want to lie down for a few minutes. I'm tired. But I'm also hungry."

He laughed. "Ok. How about you go upstairs and lie down, and I'll order some food."

"No," she said, grabbing his hand. "Come lie down with me. Then we can go eat."

He couldn't say no to that. She lead him upstairs and then he laid down on her bed. She laid on top of him and she rested her head on his chest. "Asher?" She whispered before drifting off to sleep. "Thanks for taking care of me."

He watched her as she slept. He was so thankful that he had been able to get to her before she had taken that drink. He knew he was going to have to keep an eye on her from now on, but that wouldn't be a problem.

He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. They would have to figure out everything later, but for now, he didn't want to be anywhere else.


End file.
